Update on House Bill 176

On Thursday, February 24th, the Election Law Committee of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in Concord had a hearing on House Bill 176.

Just as a re-cap, HB 176 would prevent any non-permanent resident of New Hampshire from voting within New Hampshire. This would include students attending colleges or Universities in New Hampshire. Those who live in New Hampshire, but go to school or are currently living in another part of the state would have to request an absentee ballot, or return to their hometown to vote. Essentially, it would prevent same day registration.

 Many Plymouth State University students and faculty traveled to Concord, to voice their opposition to the bill. Among them was PSU student leader Elyse Segley, who testified at the hearing. "I think that any such assumptions about students' maturity and political views are offensive," said Segley. "I think we are on a slippery slope here. Any electoral law that singles out college students to take away their voting rights is in direct violation of the equal protection clause of the [U.S.] Constitution. Under this bill, if someone comes to New Hampshire to take a job at Wal-Mart, they would be able to vote immediately, but if they come to New Hampshire in pursuit of higher education, it punishes them by taking away their right to vote. Is that what we really want to do?"

Civil Liberties Scholar, former trial attorney, and PSU Professor Eric MacLeish also testified that the bill was, in essence, unconstitutional, "If the legislation should ever be enacted, it would surely end up in court. I don't see how it could possibly be defended on Constitutional grounds. The state would ultimately lose. Furthermore, I would like to remind those people who would like to deprive these students of their right to vote that we are expecting these students to fight for us, work and pay taxes, and provide for us older folks with Social Security and Medicare in the future."

As of now, there has been no new information released about the passing of the bill, as the hearings are being taken into consideration.